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House approves substitute bill adding optional ethnicity field to governor—s appointments database
Summary
The Utah House voted to substitute and pass HB 219, adding an optional "ethnicity" field to the statewide database of gubernatorial board and commission nominees; sponsor said the information is intended to help the governor improve diversity in appointments.
The Utah House on the floor voted to substitute and pass House Bill 219, a bill that adds the word "ethnicity" to the list of items maintained in the state database for gubernatorial board and commission nominees. Representative Suazo, who sponsored the substitute, said the field would be optional and used to inform appointment decisions.
"It reads the name, address, gender, and now includes the word ethnicity as part of the items that would be included in that database," Representative Suazo said while pointing legislators to page 2, line 14 of the substitute.
Representative Cannon asked whether specifying ethnicity would be mandatory. Suazo replied that the designation is optional and that the governor—s office had indicated the information is relevant to efforts to bring "fairness and balance" to boards and commissions but would not be required of nominees.
Voting on the substitute was conducted on the House floor. The clerk reported the substitute passed on a recorded vote (clerk noted 61 affirmative and 6 negative in the floor announcement), and the bill was referred to the Senate for further consideration.
Supporters said the optional data field would help the governor track diversity across appointments; opponents raised privacy and constitutional questions about recording such personal information but were assured by the sponsor that the field was voluntary.
Next steps: HB 219 will go to the Senate for its consideration under the usual legislative process.
